<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Planning To Keep Learning Things About You by elledritchhorror</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309691">Planning To Keep Learning Things About You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elledritchhorror/pseuds/elledritchhorror'>elledritchhorror</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Penumbra Podcast</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, It is now, because that's basically the whole story here, enjoy this 4 + 2 format of Buddy and Vespa being good at things and liking that about each other, is 4 + 2 a format?, it's about the LADIES TODAY KIDS, it's like a 5 + 1 but it's not, so please enjoy this very gay fic, they're gay and they're good at stuff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 02:01:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29309691</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elledritchhorror/pseuds/elledritchhorror</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Buddy and Vespa, Vespa and Buddy. Two very capable women in love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Four times Buddy and Vespa were extremely good at something, and two times they learned how to do those things from each other. This is really just a story about the experience of watching your girlfriend be excellent at a skill and thinking "Wow. I love her so much".</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Buddy Aurinko/Vespa Ilkay</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>The Penumbra Podcast Femslash February 2021!</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. She's a Bombshell</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! I don't know fandom trends so the 4 + 2 style here is either going to be familiar and I'm just being weird about it, or it's a strange format and y'all are just gonna have to come along for the ride. Chapters are short but it felt kinda weird putting it all up at once so here you go! </p>
<p>Warnings for this chapter include:<br/>Canon typical violence<br/>Explosions<br/>I think that's it but if you notice something gimme a smack in the comments and I will correct it!<br/>Enjoy &lt;3</p>
<p>(Title is that one line from Vespa in Heart Of It All because I'm GAY and also it seemed relevant)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Vespa was a master of silence and stealth. It came with the territory as an assassin but she had always been that way even on Ranga. If you could stay quiet then you could avoid all kinds of dangers, and it wasn't easy to stay quiet in a swamp. Which was all to say that she was used to jobs with a certain amount of finesse that her new partner in crime Buddy Aurinko didn't seem to be all that interested in. In fact Vespa would probably go so far as to say that if you wanted something more bombastic than Buddy, you'd need an actual bomb.</p>
<p>She kinda liked it to be honest.</p>
<p>It seemed like a cliche to call a redhead a firebrand of a woman but she really lived up to the reputation. So far on this job she had swanned into the bank in a dress cut so low and covered in so many sparkles that Vespa was sure everyone around them would just drop to their knees on first sight of her, then she'd flirted with the clerk at the desk until he'd leaned in close enough that Buddy could grab him by the tie and smack him down onto his own comms, then finally she'd lead the way down to the vault like she owned the place. Vespa felt more than a little useless.</p>
<p>Useless wasn't the only thing she felt though, and following behind Buddy as she walked the halls with confidence sure was giving her something else to feel. She'd noticed right from the start how gorgeous Buddy was, but her beauty was so much deeper than her skin. Buddy had a thousand faces, all of them stunning but all in different ways. She could embody so many people but so far none of them had been timid and Vespa felt like a predator plant that was curled up to hide from the songbird that could eat her alive. Except Buddy had decided that Vespa wasn't her prey anymore. Instead they were allies and they were going to rob every insect and parasite in this galaxy blind, together. Vespa's head spun every time she thought of it. It was thrilling, and terrifying, and it felt way too much like love already.</p>
<p>They came up to a large door that lead to the vault room. Alarms blared and voices could be heard in the next room, but here in this corridor they were alone. Buddy had her blaster drawn and she looked to the door with the very first flicker of apprehension that Vespa have been able to find since they'd first come up with this plan a week ago.</p>
<p>"Alright, darling," she said with no hint of the fear that crowded around the corners of her eyes. "You slice this lock and then we're in. It's going to be very quick from there, so we have to be quicker. Are you ready?"</p>
<p>Vespa nodded and got to work on the lock. It was a digital lock, clunky and old. It didn't take long to pull it apart and put the right wire in the right place. Then with the press of a button, Vespa opened the door and tensed, ready to help as soon as she was needed. She... wasn't needed.</p>
<p>Buddy lifted her blaster and fired four times in quick succession. She didn't miss a shot. Time seemed to slow down for Vespa as she watched four guards drop to the ground, stunned and useless. Buddy swept in with no sign of the concern she'd had before they got through the door. The knife in Vespa's hand betrayed her trembling fingers but she couldn't bring herself to care. Good in a fight was how Buddy had described herself, and after their scrap over a score Vespa had believed it but this was something else. That useless feeling crept over Vespa's shoulders again and weighed them down but she shook it off. She followed Buddy into the room and was about to head to the massive golden vault door but stopped in her tracks when Buddy picked a different direction.</p>
<p>"Uh, Bud?" Vespa called.</p>
<p>"Just a moment, darling. We have to get into that vault as quickly as possible which means not tripping off any more alarms and not wasting time trying to crack open that monstrosity of an entryway."</p>
<p>She crouched down next to one of the guards and took his wristwatch. It was an ugly thing, gaudy like everything else in this damn bank, and chunky too. Chunkier than it was supposed to be apparently because Buddy pulled off a small piece that sat on the bottom and twisted the top so that it swung away and revealed a digital face. Buddy hurried over to the vault door and Vespa hovered by her shoulder while she copied a series of numbers from the device screen into the panel at the door. It beeped, then there was a hiss, then they were in.</p>
<p>The vault was massive, as she'd known it would be. There were walls and shelves of little boxes that held cash and jewels and all sorts of valuable crap that the richest of the rich wanted to keep but not to have. The two of them wasted no time in grabbing as much as they could manage and booking it back out of the vault. There were no new guards in the antechamber but they encountered a few more in the halls on the way out. Vespa swung out with the bag full of loot and clocked one of them around the head, knocking her out cold, while Buddy stunned the other. She shot two more on a mad dash down the hallway towards the back of the bank. Buddy's plan again. She said she had an escape route back there and while it looked like they were running the wrong way the guards would be less likely to get vicious. It seemed to be working out so far.</p>
<p>Finally they reached the back wall on the ground floor. There was an alleyway behind it, Vespa knew, and she figured they were probably going to get out onto it and disappear down the side streets. She didn't know how they were getting out with the windows barred and electrified and the doors locked in three ways but she trusted Buddy to have a plan. Buddy ran straight up to the wall and pulled something out of her bra while Vespa kept an eye on the hallway they'd just come down. She spied one more guard just as a sharp mechanical trill came from behind her and Buddy yanked her to the side. The bomb blew the wall out and left them a tidy hole to climb out into the alleyway through.</p>
<p>Vespa was wrong, it turned out. With a bomb and Buddy side by side, Buddy was brighter.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Tableside Manner</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter two is here! </p><p>Warnings include:<br/>Depictions of a crisis response<br/>Major injury (only minor characters)<br/>Burns<br/>Basically, if you're not comfortable with seeing the fallout of a public attack then please skip this one, the focus is on Vespa as a doctor but if the context is upsetting for you I fully understand and I hope you have a good day &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The ship they'd used to get to Pluto was a smugglers vessel that allowed them to travel as discreetly as possible. The positives to that were obvious, but the negatives were just as necessary to consider. One such negative was that by avoiding Port Authority, they could not receive any news about Pluto until they had landed. Normally, that wouldn't be an issue. Normally the planet one lands on hasn't just been the subject of an attack. </p><p>Buddy and Vespa were shuffled off the ship as soon as they landed but it became apparent as soon as they exited the vessel that something was terribly wrong. The landing bay was a large platform that overlooked a plateau and down on that plateau were tents and vans, thousands of bustling bodies, and a concerning amount of bodies that weren't moving at all. Buddy turned to Vespa, about to start reorganising their plan for the heist, but Vespa had already begun walking towards the stairs down to the surface of the planet. </p><p>Buddy followed her down what must have been ten flights of stairs and out into the wreckage. It was clear what had happened. The toppled buildings surrounding a large crater at the city limits nearby made it pretty obvious. Even so there were announcements being made over some kind of PA system telling people where to go and how to proceed. Vespa listened for a moment, then made her way fearlessly over to one of the large vans where a number of law enforcement officials were giving orders. </p><p>"Who are you?" One of them asked as soon as they got within earshot. </p><p>"I'm a doctor," was all Vespa said. It was apparently all she needed to say.  </p><p>The officer waved them through without question. Another officer consulted some kind of list and directed them to a tent off to the side that Buddy could smell the inside of before she saw it. Burnt flesh and the vague stench of viscera hit her hard but she turned her nose up to it and carried on steadily as though she were immune. Vespa didn't react at all to the smell, or to the harrowing scene inside. </p><p>There were people laid out on blankets with little cardboard markers by their sides, all with some kind of shorthand code written on it. Most were red, others orange, and just one was yellow, all of them had a number and a few letters or a phrase scribbled on it. Buddy was no doctor but that didn't bode well in her mind. A few tables had been brought in and the patients currently getting care were hoisted up onto them so the medics could work without needing to crouch and crawl. Vespa found one of them and approached her immediately. </p><p>"I'm a doctor, where do you want me?"</p><p>"Go relieve Ghulam, they've been at it for too long." The woman gestured vaguely to a tall, dark skinned person with the clear drag of exhaustion in their shoulders and hands. Vespa nodded and pulled Buddy along.</p><p>Ghulam gave Vespa a few instructions that made little sense to Buddy, but she gathered enough to know that this tent was a makeshift intensive care ward for burns, and that the amount of red cards should scare her exactly as much as it did. Possibly more. Then they were gone and Vespa was left with a patient on the table and more to come. She got to work immediately and Buddy could only stare while Vespa finished applying some kind of topical cream and then bandaged the leg with ease. Buddy may have been a little distracted by those hands in truth, though if she was it was more than likely a defense against the fog of misery and fear in the tent. She let everything else start to float around her without being close enough to touch, until she was interrupted. </p><p>"Hey, you awake in there?" Vespa growled. It wasn't angry or unkind, it was more a worried tone, but the question came with a snap of the fingers in Buddy's face and she realised she had zoned out more than she intended. </p><p>"Y-yes, darling. I'm here," Buddy said. </p><p>Vespa didn't comment on her stammering, just gestured to the feet of the man she had tended to. "Grab that end of the blanket, we gotta get him off the table and get the next one," she ordered. </p><p>Buddy took the corners of the blanket and pulled it to the side in tandem with Vespa. The suddent weight when their patient slid off the table was a lot, but not so much that Buddy came close to dropping him. They carried the poor man over to the doorway and then out into the night air where others were lying in various states of disarray, covered in bandages and blood. Vespa said something to the man so quietly that Buddy didn't hear it, then pulled Buddy back into the tent with her. </p><p>They found another unfortunate in need of immediate help, clearly whatever those codes were on the cards it meant something to Vespa because she scanned the room and pointed out their next patient without hesitation. This one was a young girl, no older than seventeen if Buddy were to guess, and though she was quiet, she was crying. </p><p>"No need to worry, darling. My Vespa here is an excellent doctor, she'll have you fixed up as best she can in no time," Buddy murmured to her as she took the corners of the blanket at her head. Vespa grabbed the ones at her feet and they hauled the girl up onto the table to start the process again. </p><p>The next however many hours they spent in that makeshift ward seemed to crawl and fly simultaneously. Two things struck Buddy throughout it all: one, she was very much out of her element, and two, Vespa was very clearly <i>in</i> hers. Damaged, hurting people were carried on and off their table and all the while Buddy followed orders as Vespa cleaned, disinfected, stitched, and balmed wounds. Then they would be bandaged up and carried outside to wait for someone to help them find their way home. Or to a shelter if their home was no longer safe. Vespa handled every patient, every wound, like it was a simple and normal part of her day. It wasn't until they were relieved by a fresh medic that she showed any signs of tiredness. </p><p>"You were amazing, darling," Buddy mumbled into Vespa's ear as they left the tent, hand in hand. </p><p>"Just doing my job," Vespa slurred. </p><p>They wandered over to the pop-up bus stop and waited for another bus to come to take them into the city. There were temporary shelters set up for those who had been displaced but they wouldn't take up space there. Buddy still had enough energy to find them a hotel room for the night, so long as Vespa didn't fall asleep where she stood, and sheer determination would stop her from doing that. Buddy squeezed Vespa's hand and got an answering pressure straight away. </p><p>"Sorry I ruined the heist," Vespa mumbled eventually. </p><p>"Don't be ridiculous, dear. I'm very proud of you for what you achieved today." </p><p>Vespa scoffed but a few moments later she whispered "Thanks, Bud." </p><p>Buddy squeezed her hand once more just as she spied a hotel at the end of the street. Rest was in sight. It would be well-earned.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Order in Chaos</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter three is here!! </p>
<p>No warnings for this one, it's just cute and fluffy (which I never do, damn) so sit back and relax, I hope you enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Day 3.</p>
<p>She must have been tired, or at least flagging a little, but Buddy never showed a sign that she was on day 3 of working non-stop to plan this heist. Vespa sat by the bar of the lighthouse, <em>their</em> lighthouse, and smiled into her drink. The pair of them - Buddy and Vespa, Vespa and Buddy - they'd managed a whole lot in the last few years. They'd made some big scores, and some not so big ones. They'd bought this run-down tower with lights that were supposed to warn ships away and turned it into something that welcomed them home instead. Still, Vespa didn't think she'd ever seen Buddy work this hard on a plan before. Sure, she worked hard on every job. Buddy Aurinko always had a plan for everything. But usually she knew where they were going, and when, and how, and who they'd encounter when they got there. Always had a means of escape too. This time, it looked like she was writing a damn <em>novel</em> about the next mark.</p>
<p>Vespa took the time to study her, while Buddy took her time studying the Great Earth Natural History Museum. Named that way because it was <em>on</em> Earth, not because anything in there was from the planet. Buddy had her paperwork laid out over one of the large tables that could either sit ten people or one omega level dust storm on a mission. Plans for the museum were spread out over the wood, blueprints and maps that showed where security systems were, what they could do, how they could be disarmed. Buddy would hold her hand up to her head to keep her hair out of her eyes while she examined them, then turn back to her comms where she was holding three conversations at once with three different contacts. It wasn't enough to have the information, to steal it herself or find someone willing to barter creds or favours for them. No, it all had to be verified too.</p>
<p><em>We must be certain of our information, so that when we arrive and everything predictably goes to shit, we know what information we can rely on to survive</em>.</p>
<p>Buddy had a thousand little pearls of wisdom like that. She saw the potential in the stars and that meant she could see all the brilliant things they could do and be, but she also saw how it could all go wrong. Vespa usually saw more of the wrong than the right. Vespa also didn't have many contacts. Not like Buddy did, anyway, and most of Vespa's were other doctors or medical researchers, not criminals. Assassination was a lonely business, and a good dose of paranoia was healthy in her line of work. But Buddy trusted her sources, so long as they all agreed. She never entertained the idea that they might all be lying to her to take her down. When Vespa posed that thought once Buddy had laughed it off, then sobered all too suddenly when she realised Vespa was serious. She still didn't think Vespa's suspicions had any ground to stand on but she let Vespa do checks on her contacts sometimes. It helped a little.</p>
<p>The tapping of keys halted again, and Buddy turned back to the papers. She picked up a pencil and started marking up the security plans, and working out routes through the ground floor. Her hair got in her eyes again and she pushed it back, only to put her hand down to stabilise the paper and for her hair to fall over it all again. Vespa smirked, downed her drink, and entered the chaos. Buddy was so focused on her work that she barely noticed when Vespa started to tug her hair back away from her face. Sitting down, she was just at the right height for Vespa to comfortably reach all of that wild hair and play. She pulled the top back first and separated it into four thick strands, then kept pulling more hair in as she braided, careful not to tug too hard. Vespa didn't think Buddy would care much about a bit of a sting from pulled hair, but she didn't want to break Buddy's concentration. Once she finished, Vespa pulled the tie from her own hair and fastened off the braid, then sat at the table and waited. If Buddy was at the stage of drawing in plans then it wouldn't be long now.</p>
<p>Less than half an hour later Buddy looked up from her work and stretched, arms up over her head and just a peek of bare belly showing under the hem of her shirt. Vespa tried not to stare out of habit, then remembered that she was allowed to. Buddy gave her a sharp smirk and a wink that had Vespa biting her lip, but a quick glance at the table brought Buddy back to business.</p>
<p>"I've got us a plan that will work. If all goes well we won't even encounter any security until after we have the jewels," Buddy said. Her eyes were bright, alight with mischief and excitement. Vespa always got swept away in that energy whenever she saw it in Buddy.</p>
<p>"How are we gonna manage that?" She asked.</p>
<p>Buddy took a breath and Vespa smiled automatically, knowing that a lecture was coming. Buddy loved to make plans as foolproof as any could be, but more than that she loved to <em>tell</em> people her achievements. Vespa always looked forward to a new job, and a new animated speech where Buddy got to boast about all the work she'd done and how it was going to serve them. Before she could speak though, Buddy went to flip her hair over her shoulder and froze when she couldn't. A slow smile crept across her face.</p>
<p>"Did you do that, my love?" Buddy asked.</p>
<p>Vespa nodded, not trusting her voice to stay steady. Buddy might be totally cool about saying I love you, and using pet names, but Vespa still got a thrill in her guts every time.</p>
<p>"Thank you. I'm sure I must have been very annoying to watch," she teased.</p>
<p>"You're never annoying, Bud," Vespa rasped. Yeah, her voice was embarrassing. Oh well, nothing new.</p>
<p>"Oh I highly doubt that. Nevertheless I'm sure I'll be much less annoying once we are weighed down with precious stones collected from all across the galaxy." The smirk was back in full force and Vespa settled in to listen to another Buddy Aurinko Masterpiece. Turned out the plan was so good even Vespa could trust that they'd be okay.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Thief in the Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Chapter four time!! </p><p>Warnings here are:<br/>death<br/>kidnapping/capture<br/>blood and violence </p><p>Enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If there was one thing that Buddy Aurinko despised most in a corporate thug it was a lack of imagination. The room they had her in was dull grey concrete all around, a single table in the centre and a chair on either side, one of which she was tied to. The lights were bright to look at but didn't actually do much, and they flickered terribly in a way that was coming close to giving Buddy a headache. Though of course the headache could also be coming from her grinding teeth. Regardless she'd choose to blame it on her attackers rather than herself if given the chance and, in the privacy of her own thoughts, she had every chance in the world.</p><p>Despite there being five men in branded uniforms all milling about in this room, none of them had deigned to talk to her no matter how much she rambled at them. Oh of course she'd still ramble, after all it was her right to, but a response might have been nice. Might have given her some information to work with so that she could get out of here before she worried her Vespa so much that she became even more paranoid than she usually was. Buddy understood that paranoia, certainly, and she respected the professional utility. But she never wanted to be the cause of Vespa's concern. Given that she must have been somewhere around hour three in this chair Buddy did not have high hopes for that anymore.</p><p>Buddy was just gearing up for another round of babbling, and was thankful once again that she had completed her daily vocal warmups before this heist, when every one of her guards sudddenly perked up. No doubt there was some message on their comms and by the looks on their faces the message was quite disturbing indeed. Which could be very good or very bad for Buddy. With any luck it was the former but Buddy Aurinko did not rely on luck. She took advantage of the distraction to get to work on removing the ropes that kept her strapped to the chair. Not simple when they had tied her almost from shoulder to elbow and then again at the writsts, but she did her best.</p><p>Then the lights went out.</p><p>Buddy kept her breathing as even and quiet as possible. This was Vespa's trick, she knew, but it was Vespa's because it was every assassin's skill. She would simply have to keep quiet, stay out of the way, and hope that this was her Vespa and not an incredibly unfortunate coincidence of timing. She continued to shift her wrists to try and loosen the ropes but her focus was on listening. The guards had started up their shouting the moment the room went dark but Buddy was listening for something much quieter than that. She heard it after a moment. A sickly wet thud, then a gasp, then the sound of a large body dropping in a heap onto concrete floor. Before anyone could move there was a metallic <em>shing</em> and another soft thud of metal landing in flesh.</p><p>One of the guards with an itchy trigger finger fired at the source of the sound but in the split second where the laser lit up the room there was nothing to see in that place. No one left standing. The owner of that blaster whimpered, then gurgled in a particular way that Buddy had only ever heard from a slit throat. Then another thud as he, too, fell to the ground. Three down. Another shouted from much closer to Buddy than she'd like and finally she heard the confirmation she needed. A short growl, Vespa's voice, came from across the room and then the sound of two people turning on a dime. The man near Buddy fired his weapon and the one near Vespa fell. In the flash of laser light Vespa was nowhere to be seen.</p><p>The last guard took two steps and grabbed Buddy's shoulder, no doubt aiming his blaster at her in the dark. Buddy wasn't scared of him. Less than two seconds later Vespa knocked the blaster from his hands and in the flash of the misfire Buddy saw her bury her knife in the man's sternum. He gasped, then fell. Buddy counted three, four, five more seconds, then the light flickered back on.</p><p>Vespa looked like a wild thing, angry and afraid. She rushed into Buddy's space and cut the ropes free like a flash, then she was burrowing into Buddy's chest, her arms wrapped tight around her waist like a vice. Buddy held her tight, taking every atom of terror and replacing it with comfort.</p><p>"Don't ever do that to me again," Vespa rasped. Her voice was thick with what could have been tension or tears. Buddy couldn't see her face to check.</p><p>"I will do my utmost, my love," Buddy whispered into her hair. After a few more moments Vespa pulled back and let Buddy stand up. Buddy surveyed the room.</p><p>"You know, my darling, that was a very impressive rescue," Buddy started. Vespa smiled, bashfully. "You could have tossed in a witty remark or two for some extra panache though."</p><p>"I'm an assassin, Bud. We stay silent," Vespa argued. She then set about collecting the knife she'd thrown into one of Buddy's captors. It had landed neatly in his neck, and Buddy marveled at how easily Vespa cleaned and stowed her knife, like it was nothing to hit a target so precisely with such a weapon. In the dark. Silently.</p><p>"An assassin might. But what about a glamorous thief?"</p><p>"Is that what I am? A <em>glamorous</em> thief?" Vespa scoffed. "What am I stealing? You?"</p><p>"You could," Buddy said, coyly sliding into Vespa's space again. Vespa, predictably, became flustered. It was truly one of Buddy's favourite things about her, that shyness.</p><p>"Well we should save the snappy lines for once I've actually stolen you, then," Vespa grumbled, then took Buddy's hand. "Let's get out of here."</p><p>"Darling, I'd love nothing more."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Fixer-Upper</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Second last chapter!! Exciting!! </p>
<p>Warning for this chapter include: <br/>injuries (concussion and a deep cut)<br/>blood<br/>needles/stitches<br/>general medical tools and supplies<br/>If you're not into any medical stuff then skip this one because it's all that, really. Otherwise, enjoy! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything was a little hazy. Not too bad but Vespa couldn't latch onto any particular thought or feeling. There was just... a lot. She tried to narrow down what was happening, tried to keep her focus on just one thing. Her ears were ringing. She could figure that much out at least. She tried to keep her attention on that sound, the shrill tone that just kept going even though it came from nowhere. Her body ached all over and she could tell that somewhere in particular really hurt but she couldn't figure out where that was. Eventually she realised that she had no idea where she was. There was light and colour but she couldn't really <em>see</em> anything. Just a huge red blob and then grey around it.</p>
<p>Vespa blinked. Then she blinked again. One more time and the world came back into focus around Buddy.</p>
<p>"What...?" Vespa tried to ask but she couldn't finish her sentence.</p>
<p>"Oh there you are, love. I was hoping you'd come back to me quickly. You're doing beautifully, darling, just let me finish up here."</p>
<p>Buddy sounded like she was worried and trying to hide it. Not <em>really</em> worried, not like they were in real trouble or anything, just a little concerned. Vespa wanted to comfort her but she didn't know what was wrong. She looked down at the wild cloud of red hair bent down over Vespa's arm and smiled. Then Vespa looked at her own arm. Oh. That was the bit that really hurt that she couldn't pinpoint before. Made sense now she could see all the blood.</p>
<p>Idly, without any real intention, Vespa catalogued the injury. It was just a cut, but a dirty one, and fairly long. It looked like something had torn the skin unevenly and it would definitely need stitches. She hissed when the cut suddenly stung badly, then realised that of course she should have known that would happen. Buddy had a cloth with some kind of disinfectant on it and she was gently wiping at Vespa's arm. It shouldn't have taken her by surprise but it did anyway. Huh.</p>
<p>"Sorry about that, darling. It's going to keep stinging for a bit though, we don't have anything to numb it."</p>
<p>"Oh," Vespa said, dumbly. Thoughts kept coming to her, then flitting away before she could latch onto them and figure out what they were or what they meant. That probably should have worried her but she couldn't quite manage it.</p>
<p>"What happened?" Vespa asked slowly. Her tongue didn't want to wrap around the words, but she could manage just two.</p>
<p>"You fell, my love. We made it out of the building and we lost our pursuers, but a brick came loose under your foot and you fell off the roof," Buddy said. She looked Vespa in the eye while she said it, and her words were slow and kind of exaggerated. Vespa blinked again, then she finally took in what the words meant.</p>
<p>"I don't..." She couldn't manage more than that. Buddy seemed to understand though.</p>
<p>"Don't remember? That's not surprising, my darling. I think you've got a concussion."</p>
<p>Vespa let that sink in while Buddy got back to work on her arm. Concussed. That made a lot of sense. What didn't make so much sense was Buddy. She had supplies from Vespa's little first-aid kit that she carried everywhere with her laid out on her jacket on the ground. There was a small bottle of rubbing alcohol, a set of needles for stitches, some medical thread, tape, cotton padding, a bandage. It was all laid out exactly as Vespa would have done it but she couldn't remember preparing all of this herself. A concussion could cause memory loss, but she wouldn't have been able to do all this with her mind slipping from the grasp of consciousness like trying to catch an eel with her hands. Not to mention her arm would have made a mess of it all. So Buddy must have done it.</p>
<p>The cloth was gone now, Vespa's arm was clean and only bleeding a little bit. Buddy threaded exactly the needle that Vespa would have chosen for a job like this, then got to work stitching with perfect form. Did... did Vespa teach her this? Did she teach Buddy what to do and in her concussed haze she'd forgotten? But concussions didn't usually work like that. She would remember teaching Buddy to do this if she had. So Buddy must have picked it up just from watching her. She must also have been listening while Vespa muttered to herself while she worked. Vespa knew she had a tendency to talk to herself; it kept her thoughts in order and made it easier to keep the important things straight in her head. But did she talk enough while working for Buddy to know exactly what to do? That was... honestly kinda embarrassing. But nice, too. Nice that Buddy had listened to her even when she was just whispering nonsense to herself.</p>
<p>She was slower than Vespa would have been, but Buddy still managed to stitch up Vespa's arm much quicker than your average novice. She tied off the knot and put the needle aside. Then she doused a new cloth and held it up so that Vespa would know what was coming. Vespa nodded, a little more aware now that time and pain had started to clear her head, and Buddy cleaned the wound again. Then she padded it with cotton and taped it down, then bandaged the whole thing firmly so that it would hold everything in place and protect it from the elements.</p>
<p>"How are you feeling, my love?" Buddy asked once she was done. Vespa looked down at her where she was kneeling on the ground, surrounded by Vespa's supplies, and for the millionth time Vespa was knocked breathless with love. Buddy frowned and reached up to gently cradle Vespa's face and watch her pupils. Vespa cleared her throat.</p>
<p>"Uh, fine. I'm fine. Coming... coming good. Or better, I guess. Not good but... better." Vespa cursed herself internally for how stupid she sounded, but Buddy grinned.</p>
<p>"Oh good. You sound much better." She started packing away the tools into the first-aid kit again. "Just a few more minutes and we can get you somewhere you can rest. You'll still need lots of it to get that beautiful brain of yours back into shape, remember."</p>
<p>Vespa bit her lip and tried to ignore the uncomfortable heat in her cheeks. "Yeah, sounds good."</p>
<p>Buddy finished collecting everything and had it all back in its proper place in no time at all. Then she helped Vespa stand and they limped off towards the city limits. There would be a motel they could use somewhere there, and then Vespa could sleep. Then maybe once she'd had some time to recover she could see just how much Buddy had learned, and maybe teach her a few more things. Buddy would make a good medic, Vespa thought, and maybe Vespa wouldn't be a very good teacher but she could have fun trying.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Sickbed Blues</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Final chapter! It has arrived!! Thank you to everyone who has read all of this, I am not confident in it at al (this chapter moreso than most, I might come back and edit it later) but if you've enjoyed it then I'm glad!</p><p>Warnings for this chapter are just general sickness I guess? It's just a cold but still, it's there. </p><p>Thanks for reading! I love you! &lt;3</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once someone was sick with a basic illness like a cold or a flu, there really wasn't all that much a doctor could do about it. They could prescribe medication and tell their patients to get rest and keep hydrated but after that, there just wasn't much to be done. It was a simple fact of life. The 'common cold' as the old humans back on Earth had called it was cured long before planetary colonisation really began but the thing about taking people to new places with new atmopsheres and environments was that they always found new ways to get sick. Earth's common cold might be gone, but the Martian one was still very much alive and kicking.</p><p>All this to say that Buddy was feeling rather low, all things considered. A cold was hardly the worst thing that someone could fall ill with, but it was a <em>frustrating</em> thing to suffer. Buddy Aurinko was a busy woman, she had things to do and heists to plan and yet here she was, lying in bed in her pyjamas, awake and aware but unable to <em>do</em> anything. She could read a book, perhaps. Though that, too, felt like a waste of time and after a while the words swam on the page and her eyes drooped low. It didn't make her quite tired enough to sleep, but it made her entirely too tired to keep reading. Whatever power in the universe that had cursed humanity to illness would be getting some stern words when Buddy finally reached the end of her long and glamorous career as a living creature.</p><p>Somewhere in the middle of all this self-pity, Vespa came to check up on her. She was gentle and sweet and all the things that only Buddy ever got to see, and so Buddy decided that the powers that be were going to be getting a few <em>more</em> words at the end of this for putting Buddy in a situation where she couldn't kiss her lover senseless. Once she'd finished checking up on Buddy's condition, Vespa went to leave, then paused in the doorway.</p><p>"Do you know where that diary of contacts you have is? I want to check something and it wasn't in your desk drawer," Vespa asked. Buddy frowned in confusion, but got no further information.</p><p>"It should be in my purse, darling. The one I took on that last heist," Buddy told her. Still there was no more information, just a nod and a smile, then Vespa walked away.</p><p>Buddy waited a while, but she couldn't shake the confusion. There shouldn't be any reason that Vespa would need her diary, and though Buddy was of course happy for her to have it, she was confused. She was also utterly free of any distractions and so she hauled herself out of bed and went to find Vespa to investigate.</p><p>The answer became quite obvious the moment she got downstairs. Vespa was sitting at the bar with notebooks, her comms, and Buddy's contact diary. She had a pen between her teeth, and she was frowning at the comms screen where she had a window open to the secure chat portal that Buddy most liked to use when collecting information from her various friends and acquaintances. There looked to be a whole screen full of text going back and forth already. That, more than anything, struck Buddy as odd. Vespa didn't like to talk to strangers wherever she could help it. To Buddy, everyone was a potential ally, or a potential enemy, and she treated her new meetings accordingly. Every new acquaintance was subjected to the full force of Buddy's wit and charm so that they knew that she could be a very powerful friend to them, and that she was someone they should <em>not</em> want to upset. But Vespa didn't talk to people. She watched and waited from afar to gauge how trustworthy they were if she were forced to engage at all.</p><p>But here she was, chewing on her pen and tapping away at the comms keyboard, talking to a stranger.</p><p>Buddy came up close and took a look over Vespa's shoulder. Vespa showed no sign that she knew Buddy was there, but there was no chance that she hadn't heard Buddy arrive. So Buddy took that as permission to scan over the work that Vespa had done. She looked over the notebooks left open to sketches and diagrams, bullet lists of information, questions scribbled in the corners away from the rest of the work. It was... their next heist. The one that Buddy was supposed to be planning that day. When Buddy looked closer at Vespa's comms she could see the documents open in the sidebar that showed the blueprints for the gala venue, the work roster for the security at the event, another document full of notes. The chat window was open to a conversation with a woman who called herself Verity. A rather on-the-nose name to choose as an intel gatherer but Buddy trusted her work. Vespa usually didn't, but as Buddy scanned the backlog she could see that Vespa had been polite and to the point. No antagonism whatsoever.</p><p>After another minute, Verity said her goodbyes and logged off, and Vespa turned on the barstool to face Buddy.</p><p>"You feelin' okay?" Vespa asked. Buddy grinned.</p><p>"I'm feeling just fine, my love," Buddy replied.</p><p>"You sure about that? You were pretty pissed off at being sick, before." Vespa raised an eyebrow and Buddy, ever weak to this woman, had to admire the way her scar cut her eyebrow in two and tugged it strangely so even the most sceptical look still seemed gentle.</p><p>"Well I was rather upset about it, yes. But now I am immensely proud of you so the two feelings are evening each other out into something fairly neutral," Buddy said.</p><p>Vespa scoffed and rolled her eyes, as she so often did when Buddy praised her. Buddy laughed, sickly though it sounded, and made to go back to the bedroom but Vespa hooked her by the wrist and pulled her in for a hug.</p><p>"You'll get sick, my love," Buddy protested.</p><p>"No I won't, I'm not breathing in your germs. I'll be fine." Buddy grinned once more at the muffled sound of Vespa's voice, stifled by Buddy's chest.</p><p>"Alright, if you say so. But I would hate for you to be sick and have to miss this heist you've planned so well."</p><p>"Eh, I'm sure you could come up with way better," Vespa mumbled.</p><p>"You know, darling," Buddy whispered into Vespa's hair, "I'm not sure that I could."</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>